Boo-box

quarta-feira, 18 de janeiro de 2012

As you read this, dogs, cats, rabbits, mice, and even chimpanzees—as well as many other animals—are suffering behind closed laboratory doors. Some of these animals may be force-fed cosmetics and household cleaners or forced to inhale toxic chemicals. Some will be made to suffer from painful heart attacks, be injected with cells that grow massive tumors, or have holes drilled into their skulls so that electrodes can be inserted into their brains.

There is no rationale for these painful tests beyond the "we've always done it this way" excuse that experimenters use to justify their cruelty to animals—a rationale that becomes even more flimsy when one realizes that non-animal methods are not only cruelty-free but also often cheaper and more effective at predicting results in people.

Together, we are making astounding and impressive progress, but we need your help today to do even more for animals this year. For more than three decades, PETA has been leading the fight against animal experiments, and we continue to achieve important victories and save animals' lives.

Shortly before the holidays, the National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced that it was suspending funding for any new experiments on chimpanzees, as well as re-evaluating—and possibly cutting funding to—all current experiments on these sensitive animals. This terrific decision comes on the heels of an NIH-commissioned report that concluded that nearly every use of chimpanzees in laboratories today is unjustified. Last summer, PETA and an array of scientists had presented testimony to the committee that generated this landmark report.

The United States is the only nation in the industrialized world to allow invasive experiments on chimpanzees, but thanks in part to the support of PETA members, we're closer than ever to ending these experiments. By becoming a PETA member right now, you'll give us the resources that we must have in order to continue our fight for chimpanzees and all animals who are so desperately in need of our help.

PETA's dedicated team of researchers, scientists, investigators, and campaigners has just ended another outstanding year of successes for animals in laboratories. We helped bring about the first-ever felony cruelty-to-animals indictments against laboratory staff in the U.S. following a PETA investigation of animal testing facility Professional Laboratory and Research Services, Inc. (PLRS). Together with tens of thousands of PETA supporters, we persuaded the Environmental Protection Agency to reduce the number of animals to be killed in that agency's massive endocrine-disruptor screening program and to adopt non-animal testing methods. This one switch to high-tech methods could save the lives of more than 3 million individual animals.

Although these victories for animals are sure signs of progress, there is still so much to be done. Right now, dogs, rabbits, and other animals are suffering in testing facilities in dire conditions much like those that we exposed at PLRS. At this moment, chimpanzees, mice, and millions of other individual animals are facing death in needless and archaic tests that could be replaced by non-animal methods.

Thank you for your compassion—and for always doing what's best for animals.

Kind regards, Ingrid E. Newkirk President

P.S. All of PETA's lifesaving work for animals—from our undercover investigations that expose hidden abuse to our eye-opening campaigns—is made possible by the continued generosity of PETA donors. By becoming a member during PETA's January new-member drive, you can help ensure that PETA is there to respond whenever an animal is in need.